Mechanics: Don’t Buy These 8 Trucks That Cost the Most Money Over Time

Despite their high price tags, Americans bought more SUVs last year than cars and trucks combined, according to Kelley Blue Book. However, when it comes to the best selling vehicles on American roads, trucks reign supreme.

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As CNBC reported, Ford Motor’s F-Series trucks (which include the F-150 and larger models), led the industry for the 42nd year in a row in 2023, selling 750,789 vehicles. This was followed by GM’s Chevrolet Silverado pickup, which sold 543,780 units, and Ram pickups with 444,926 sales.

U.S. drivers will always love the size and power of pickups, and today’s models are practical and flexible enough to replace a sedan, hatchback or SUV as an all-round family car. Still, truck brands known for their consistency and quality can release duds on occasion, and less reputable brands might have solid and dependable outliers among their lineups.

Reliability is one of the more difficult things to assess without consulting an expert or conducting trustworthy internet research is reliability. For tips on what trucks will breakdown more frequently and cost the most money over time, we’ve turned to Just Answer’s verified auto expert Chris Pyle, who drew on his half-century of diagnosing and repairing expertise.

Here are seven trucks that will cost you valuable time and money over the years, according to Pyle, starting with North America’s oldest automakers.

1. 2003-2005 Ford Super Duty

As Pyle notes, “These were the first years for the 6.0 diesel and Ford tried to get ahead of the soon-to-come emissions standards.” Unfortunately, with Ford pushing to get this engine out quickly, there were certain issues that arose. “Ford found it is super hard to make diesels run clean,” said Pyle. “It took a couple of years for Ford to get it figured out. As with any diesel, repairs are expensive.”

2. 2006-2013 Ram

According to CarEdge’s “Most Expensive Cars to Maintain” rankings, Ram is the costliest popular auto brand to maintain and owns the top seven individual model spots in repair costs over 10 years. Ram vehicles cost $5,000 more on average in repair costs over the first decade of ownership, and its top four models are $5,000 more expensive to maintain than the most expensive luxury brand models. According to Pyle, “They have steering and suspension concerns resulting in a death wobble and need multiple repeat repairs to get the truck safe and dependable.”

3. 2005-2010 Nissan Frontier

Like its Pathfinder and Xterra SUVs, Nissan Frontier trucks from the mid-to-late 2000s suffered from frequent transmission and engine failures, per RepairPal . “The cooler is inside the radiator,” states Pyle. “It fails, allowing coolant to get into the transmission which ruins the clutch plates very fast. Resulting in an expensive overhaul or trans replacement.

4. 2004-2006 Ford F150

As mentioned above, the F Series is the most popular vehicle of any kind in the United States. But popularity doesn’t necessarily equate to reliability and cost effectiveness. “The 5.4-liter engine spark plugs get stuck in the engine and often break off during removal, turning an 8-minute job to change one spark plug into an hour or more if all 8 spark plugs break off,” said Pyle.

5. 2000-2006 Toyota Tundra

Like the Nissan Frontier, “Transmission failures from cooler failures,” are common with the Tundra, Toyota’s second attempt at a full-sized pickup (after the T100). But there’s also “repeat exhaust system failures because it was cheap material and thin-walled,” according to Pyle. “It just rotted out. You had to use aftermarket parts to get better longevity.”

6. 2004-2012 Chevy Colorado / 7. 2004-2012 GMC Canyon

Although you’ll pay a bit more for the GMC Canyon, you’ll get a lot of the same engineering and components as you would buying a Chevrolet Colorado. You’ll also get many of the same repair concerns, especially with engine failures on a good stretch of model years, says Pyle. “They are just not dependable with failures that crop up out of nowhere with little to no warning.”

8. 2020-2021 Jeep Gladiator

Car and Driver is “meh” on the 2024 Gladiator, complaining about its road noise, fuel economy, road handling and crew cab space. On recent models, Pyle is as uncaring. “Not major, but too many premature failures with the driveline, steering, suspension, and the electrical accessories,” he said.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Mechanics: Don’t Buy These 8 Trucks That Cost the Most Money Over Time